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The Web Advisory Group was initiated in 2004 by Scott Eldredge to gather thoughts and ideas about the improvement and direction of the LHU website. The members were individuals who volunteered their time and expertise to the group from across campus - representing various constituents/groups that have a vested interest in the university and its web presence. |
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The group largely remained the same with several people stepping off due to other commitments. The group attempted to replace the individuals stepping off with others related to the area they represented. There was no formal selection process, as this group’s discussions and recommendations were just that – recommendations. The work of the group was shared with the LHU campus community – a written report requested by the president /senior administration was published in 2006 and presented to the president and senior staff, another was a recommendation of a content management vendor and another bid specifications for a content management system.
The group did not have the authority to “make” or enforce policies. Final decisions regarding the university website rest with the vice president of finance and administration; with the day-to-day operations coordinated through the director of Web Development – who reports to the director of University Marketing and Communications. The website hardware and technical backup and expertise are provided by the LHU Information Technology Department.
Status of the Content Management System (CMS)
2.11: New Web Steering Committee formed to discuss advances within the university website (Forms, RSS Feeds, Calendar, future add-ons). Members of this group include: Mary White, Director of marketing and communications; Don Patterson, Directory of Information Technology; Scott Eldredge, Director of Web Development; Jim Heiney, Distribution Systems Specialist; Bo Miller, Telecommunications Manager; and Shane Jones, Applications Developer. this group was recognized with the University's 2011 CAT (Outstanding Collaboration and Teamwork) Award.
3/4/10: Initial test/training of CMS with web advisory group members.
As a pilot group, the web advisory committee tested the initial CMS product. Overall, things worked well - one outstanding issue related to the log-in using LHU's LDAP information. This has been resolved as of 3/22/10. A follow-up session will take palce with the Web Advisory Group in the beginning of April 2010.
6/30/09: Remaining $71,000 of the original $200,000 allocated to the purchase and setup of a content management system is returned to university.
There is now no budget allocated for professional development or additional resources for conversion of the university site to the new CMS. Will proceed under the existing 3 year contract with OmniUpdate.
2/9/09: Phase One of new website roll-out is implemented.
2/2/09: To the LHU campus community
The university will launch a new homepage and “first tier” links (links from the new homepage) on Monday
, February 9, 2009.
This begins “Phase One” of a multi-phase site roll-out that will incorporate the new content management system (CMS- OmniUpdate). The university has selected the system and begun to build a new site after lengthy study of higher education “Best Practices.”
Prototype templates for department/discipline sites are being created to use on the new CMS. However, they will not be available until “Phase Two” is implemented sometime in April 2009. Samples of the homepage and choice of two page templates are attached for your review and to plan how your current site can prepare to transition to the new “look.”
These templates will be available in .html format (not the CMS templates) as of Mon., Feb. 9, 2009. To discuss your personal departmental needs and questions related to the new CMS, I will be scheduling meetings with those departments that contact me on a first-come, first-served basis. The actual CMS training will not take place until “Phase Two” has begun AND an initial meeting with me takes place – so be sure to contact me for an appointment.
Please continue to share your thoughts with me and thank you for your continued support,
Scott
Scott Eldredge: seldredg@lhup.edu (570) 484-2323